Aeroplane landing gear



Oct. 6,1925- 1,556,348

7 w. A; RAY ET AL AEROPLANE LANDING GEAR Filed Feb. 14. 1925 JW- I i INVENTOR MLL1AMAR41 5 BY I ATTORN Patented Oct. 6, 1925.-

UNITED STATES 1,556,348 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. RAY AND REX B. BEISEL, OF HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS TO CURTISS AEROPLANE 8a MOTOR 00., INC., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

AEROZPLA'NE LANDING GEAR.

Application filed February 14, 1925. Serial No. 9,106.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM A. RAY

and Bax B. BEISEL, citizens of the United States of America, residing at Hempstead, in the county of Nassau and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aeroplane Landing Gears, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to arresting'gears for aeroplanes and is concerned more particularly with an arresting gear attachment for aeroplane landing gears.

In arresting the speed of an aeroplane in landing, and especially where a ship deck landing is made, it is the common practice to hook-in, as it were, the devices carried by the landing gear with a cooperating part of the arresting gear installed on the deck of the ship. Such arresting gear usually includes a series of flexible lines or runners spaced along the ships deck and with which the devices carried by the aeroplane landing gear are adapted to frictionally engage;

such engagement arrestingthe forward speed of the aeroplane and at the same time holding it (the aeroplane) down on the deck of the ship.

Invariably, 1n sofar as we are aware, the hook-in devices heretofore used have been hung from and fastened to'the landing gear axle; such axle forming the permanent art of the landing gear structure and afording a cross-connection between the landing gear wheels. In scout or reconnaissance ty e craft such an arrangement is preferab e, as in craft of this particular type the landing gear axle afl'ords an admirable support for the several hook-in devices. In torpedo carrying craft and in bomb dropping craft, however, a somewhat different condition exists. Such craft are designed to carry a relatively large projectile. Preferably, the projectile is carried beneath and close up under the fuselage or body of the ma-. chine at or near its center of gravity. Suc projectile, when released, falls away from the aeroplane, and must, if launched with accuracy and precision, leave the machine free from all interference. Accordingly therefore, a landing gear having a cross-axle or cross-connection between its wheels cannot be employed on a bomb carrying or torpedo carrying machine.

In eliminating the cross-connection bepo tween the landing gear wheels, we ehmmate at the same time, the structure heretofore used as a support for the hook-in device. The problem, therefore, is to so modify the landing gear of a bombing or torpedo carrymg aeroplane as to provide for the attachrnent of the hook-in device without obstructmg the necessary free space required to be provided between the landing gear wheels. The object. of the present invention is to meet this problem with as little modification of the arresting gear now used as is ossible. The only change required to be ma e in the landing gear structure is a minor one. Instead of providing'closed en'd hollow axle members, the ends thereof are left open; such open end axle members admittin of a quick attachment and detachment 0 suit-' able supports from which the hook-in devices are suspended. Where bombing or torpedo carrying work is required to be performed, the support for said devices is made sectional, each axle member sup orting an individual section, and the sections themselves being so proportioned as to leave the required free space between the wheels and beneath the fuselage or body..

' Other objects of the invention will behereinafter set forth.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters denote like or corresponding P Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an aeroplane landing gear equipped with an arresting gear adjustment particularly suited to the bomb carrying or torpedo carrying machine;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modified form of arresting gear attachment; such modification being useable with good results where it is intended that the machine be 0 rated as scout or reconnaissance type cra only, an

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of one of the axle members.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, the fuselage h or body of the aeroplane is designated as 10, whereasthe wings or supporting surfaces thereof are designated as'1111 re spectively. The aeroplane landing gear preferably comprises laterally spaced landing gear wheels 1212 independently supported, the arrangement of the wheels being such that an open free space is provi ed between them. Said whpels are suprted by means of struts 13-13 and 1414, the latter struts having associated with them suitable shock absorbing mechanism desi ated as 15-15. The struts 13--13 diverge downwardly from the fuselage-or body 10, each strut'at its lower end having formed thereon or fastened thereto a hollow axle member 16. The axle member 16 within t e hollow of each a support 17 in the form of a transverse arm, 1s adapted to be inserted or extended. The supports 17, one for each axle member, are

eld inplace by pins 18, the ends of said supports projecting laterally out .for some little distance beyond the. opposite faces of the landing gear wheels and consequently the opposite ends of the hollow axle members. From the projectin portions of the supports 17 a plural num r of hookin devices 19- of more or less conventional form are sus nded. In the form of the invention of i 1, the desired open space between the lan ing gear wheels is retained and at the same time a suflicient number of hook-in devices 19 are employed to arrest the forward speed of the aeroplane in a landing o ration, the arresting action, of course, ing obtained thru' the co operation of said devices with that part or portion of the arresting gear (not shown) mounted on the deck of the vessel. Such an arrangement, as intimated, isespecially adapted to bomb carrying or tor edo carrying craft wherein the projectile to be launched is supported during" flightnear the center of gravity and close up under the fuselage or body of the machine.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 2, the construction of the landing gear s identical with that described in connection with Fi 1. Instead, however, of providin in lvidual supports 17 for the hook-in ev'ces 19, a sup ort 20 common to the total number of hoo devices 21 is provided. Said support 20 is carried across the open space above referred to and is preferably in the form of a telescoping rod or tube, the ends of which are pivotally fastened as at 22 to anchorages 23 extended thru the hollow axle members and fastened therein by lock-nuts 24. Such an arrangement can be used to advantage during the operation of the machine for scout or reconnaissance purposes and at the same time admits of the conven- 3 tional disposition of the hook-in devices, i. e.,

wholly between the wheels of the landing gear, notwithstanding the fact that the wheels are adapted to yield independently see Fig. 3) is open ended, and

the support sections telescopically within the ot er, the desired independent yieldintgi action of the wheels 12 is made poss1 e.

While we have described our invention in detail in its present preferred embodiment, .it will be obvious to those skilled inthe art after understanding our invention that various clian and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. We aim in the appended claims to cover all such modifications and changes.

What we claim is:

1. The combination with an aeroplane landing gear including laterally spaced axle members, of an arresting gear therefor comprising a part detachably fastened to said axle members, and devices engageable, in landing the aeroplane, with a cooperating portion of the arresting gear, the devices collectively being carried by that, part of the landing gear detachably fastened to said axle members.

2. The combination with an aero lane landing gear including laterally spac hollow axle members, of an arresting gear therefor comprising a part detachably fastened to said axle members and extended.

into the hollowed portions thereof, and devices engageable, in landing the aeroplane, with a coo rating portion of the arresting gear, the evices collectively being carried that part of the arresting gear detacha 1y fastened to said axlemembers.

3. The combination with an aero l'ane landing gear including laterally space axle members, of an arresting gear therefor comprising a divided support having its sections removably fastened respectively to said axle members, and devices engageable in landing the aeroplane, with a cooperating part of the arresting gear, said devices being carried by and movable with said support.

4. The combination with an aero lane landing gear including laterally space hollow axle members, of an arresting gear therefor comprising a divided support detachably fastened to and having its sections extended into the respective hollow axle members, and devices engageable, in landing the aeroplane, with a cooperating part of the arresting gear, said devicesbemg carried by and movable with said support.

In testimony whereof we hereunto 'afiix our signatures.

WILLIAM A. RAY. REX B. BEISEL. 

